Blessing Ebigieson, the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) president, has weighed in on the death of Junior Pope, the actor.
Pope died on April 10 in the River Niger in Asaba, Delta state on his way to a movie location.
He passed away alongside four other crew members in the boat accident.
Pope’s demise led to the suspension of Adanma Luke, the producer of the upcoming movie in which the late actor was supposed to feature.
In an interview with Arise TV, Ebigieson defended Luke against accusations of negligence.
Ebigieson said the producer had provided life jackets for the crew, but Pope allegedly refused to wear one, claiming it was “dirty”.
She expressed disappointment in Pope’s actions, saying as a “big celebrity”, he should have demanded a clean life jacket or refused to proceed with the shoot until one was provided.
She also said the actor could have taken further action, such as petitioning or involving the authorities if he felt his safety was compromised.
“I spoke to her and she explained everything that happened, she was not there when it happened,” she said.
“And then when she left there was somebody in charge of the production, it was the production manager but we all know that sometimes these crew members are always afraid of these big celebrities.
“The production manager told her that they gave Junior Pope a life jacket, he said it was dirty.
“Now my thought was if it was dirty as a big celebrity like you, what you are supposed to say go and wash it or get me a new one or I am not going to move.
“You can walk out of that set, write a petition against the producer and we will take it up or even get a police to arrest that producer because the producer is sending you on a suicide mission.”
Ebigieson added that the incident compelled the association to formalise safety protocols to prevent future tragedies.
The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) earlier suspended all movies involving riverine locations.
Emeka Rollas, the president of the AGN, also warned filmmakers not to work with Adanma.
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